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Arizona's P.O.V

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"I'm sorry for hurting you Arizona, and for making you feel like you're not enough, and I will sort out whatever I am feeling. I promise."

Mickie gave me a small, broken hearted, smile, and despite everything I couldn't help but smile back at her. She hadn't meant to hurt me, she hadn't meant to like Courtney and I at the same time, she hadn't meant to break my heart. She didn't deserve to be made to feel guilty, and she didn't deserve the way I spoke to her.

The moment I heard the sound of a car being started up and the sound of tyres against gravel, I broke down. Holding my head in my hands on my desk and letting the tears fall. I couldn't seem to stop them, as wave after wave of emotion hit me.

How could I have been so stupid? Mickie was never going to just get over Courtney, it wasn't that easy. Did I really believe she could just pretend that her feelings for Courtney were non-existent and continue to go out with me? Was I even that shocked that they had kissed yesterday? The moment Mickie told me she was leaving and that she had something to do I knew. I knew where she was going and who she was going to see. When she hadn't visited me this morning, I knew something had happened, and when she continued to ignore my calls all day because 'her phone had died' I knew she was keeping something from me. I even knew what it was, but I didn't want to accept.

I looked towards my bed and laughed, despite the tears, at the chocolates sitting on my bed. Mickie was right, she should have got me flowers. Flowers definitely suited this situation better. Maybe the chocolates were meant for Courtney, it would make more sense considering it was Courtney who owned Mickie's heart. Even if Mickie were to love me, it wouldn't stop her from loving Courtney.

It was selfish of me to try to stop Mickie from having a chance with Courtney, because of my own selfish desires. I wanted her to be happy, and if I couldn't be the person to make her happy, then I wasn't going to make her stay in our relationship. If we even had a relationship anymore.

Mickie cheating on me broke my heart, the pain was indescribable, and knowing it was Courtney, was just adding salt to the wound. It hurt knowing our relationship meant so little to her she was willing to risk it all for a kiss. A kiss that most likely meant absolutely nothing to the other person. It hurt to think that she hadn't even thought about me when she did it, as if I meant nothing.

I gently rubbed my wet eyes with the back of my hand, running out of tears to cry. Why was I even crying over her? I barely know her, I had only spent two months getting to know her. That wasn't enough time to fall for her. Yet here I was, feeling completely heart broken and lost, how could I possibly believe it wasn't enough time when it clearly was.

There was no doubt in my mind that this wasn't just me having a crush on Mickie anymore, I was starting to fall completely, head over heels, in love with her. Which is why I couldn't stay in a relationship with her if there was even a small chance she would later leave me for Courtney. I couldn't go through that, I couldn't watch her leave me for someone else when I am so madly in love with her. It's much better to end things now, while my feelings aren't that strong yet.

********

Mickie didn't visit me the day after our argument. Though I'm not sure argument was the right word for it, it was more like me shouting at her and her just accepting everything I threw at her. Not that I blamed her for not visiting, we both know it was for the best, neither of us had anymore to say, there was nothing left to say. Technically we were still a couple, we hadn't spoken about breaking up, but I suppose you could say we were taking a break.

It was already Friday and I was going crazy staying at home, doing absolutely nothing. The pain killers were doing a great job of numbing the pain enough for me to go about my day, but unfortunately they could only numb the physical pain, there was nothing to numb the emotional pain I felt.

I grabbed my bag from the floor, winching in pain slightly from moving so quickly. I decided to carry it in my hand rather than to attempt to carry it on my shoulder. I walked quietly down the stairs hoping to be quite enough and sneak out of the house without my dad noticing. I tiptoed to my front door, and let out a small sigh of relief when I made it.

"And where do you think you're going?" I closed my eyes, and groaned internally, before turning around to face him.

I smiled sweetly at him, "I was thinking about going for a walk, to get some fresh air." It wasn't a complete lie, I was going to walk a little bit, from my house to my car.

He raised his eyebrow at me, frowning, "With your school bag and your car keys?" He asked skeptically, knowing exactly where I was going. I sighed and decided to just admit the truth.

"No, I'm going to school." He opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off, "I need to, I can't stay here cooped up any longer, I'm going out of my mind." I needed to get out of this house, I needed to distract myself, I needed to socialise with people. How often was it that you found a teenager that actually wanted to go to school? I wanted nothing more than to go right now.

He looked as if he was thinking the thought through, his eyebrows furrowed as he stared intently at me, "If you must go, can't you ask Mickie to pick you up, I'm not happy about you driving yourself around."

I couldn't possibly ask Mickie to pick me up, but he didn't know that. "I told you dad she's really busy with work and stuff." I lied. I couldn't tell him the truth, I didn't want to tell him the truth. The truth was too painful to admit to someone else. Maybe if know one else found out about it, we could pretend like it never happened and go back to the way things were.

"I don't see that as a reason why she can't pick you up Ari, I'm sure she will be happy to, she wouldn't want to see you strain yourself." Mickie would be more than happy to pick me up and make sure I didn't put any strain on my ribs, but I didn't want her to. I didn't want her to look after me, to care for me. It would only make it that much harder to stop myself from falling madly in love with her despite everything she has done.

"No dad, I don't want to do that to her, I don't want her to feel like she has to stop what she is doing to look after me. I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself." He sighed, and picked up his car keys from the cabinet, before slipping on his trainers.

I frowned at him, and watched his lips pull up in a small smile, "If you wont call Mickie, you'll have to settle for your old dad dropping you off and picking you up." I laughed softly, knowing it hurt to do so, before agreeing to let him drive me around.

I walked to form slowly, getting stopped occasionally by people telling me that they had heard what had happened and wondered how I was feeling. I smiled at them and told them I was fine and that I appreciated their concern. A lot of people also commented on the bruise, that had only just stared to fade, on my face, I had tried to hide it but I had had no luck in doing so.

The day was going pretty well until I saw her standing there with her friends, Marc included. The two of them looked up and smirked at me, and I felt my left hand ball up into a fist. I watched Courtney dismiss herself from her friends and start walking off. Before I knew what I was doing I had hold of Courtney's arm pulling her around to face me.

"It's good to see you're looking better." She told me, looking at the bruise on my face before meeting my eyes.

"You kissed my girlfriend." It wasn't a question, it was a statement, one which I hadn't intended in making, the words had just slipped out of my mouth, I had no control over them. I watched the smirk re-appear on her face.

"Well she kissed me, I just gave her a peck, I can't help it if she wanted more."

"How dare you?" I was beyond angry now, she was deflecting all the blame onto Mickie, couldn't she even accept that what she had done was wrong. Whether it was a peck or a full blown make-out session she had still kissed someone else's girlfriend.

Courtney raised one of her shoulders in a half hearted attempt to shrug, "It's not my fault your girlfriend would rather be with me, that you are just simply keeping her company because she is lonely. She will never love you like she loves me."

Although I had told my self the same thing, hearing it from Courtney's mouth made it seem like it was actually true. Mickie would never love me as much as she love's Courtney. As if Courtney knew what I was thinking, her smirk grew. "I don't think Mickie has ever wanted to be with you when I'm kissing her, when I'm running my hand down her body, and she has her hands-"

Courtney's jaw clenched and her whole expression changed, making me feel slightly intimidated by her, "You think Mickie would stay with you if I called." She laughed, and shook her head at me as if I were a child that had done something wrong, she snapped her fingers loudly right in front of my face, making me flinch slightly, "All I have to do is snap my fingers and she comes running."

I snapped hearing her talk about Mickie like that, despite everything Mickie didn't deserve to be spoken about like that, she didn't deserve to be treated like that either. "You nasty bi-" I raised my left hand, but was stopped when someone grabbed it.

"You don't need to do this Arizona." Mickie's voice made me calm down slightly, but I was still angry enough to snap at her.

"That's right, I forgot, it's okay for her to slap me, but I so much as raise my hand-"

Mickie sighed and cut me off, "It's not like that Ari, you're better than her, you don't need to lower yourself to her level." I pulled my arm from her grip, and shook my head at her, finding no words to say to her. I looked at Courtney who looked as smug as ever, knowing in her mind this was a victory for her. I walked past her and in the direction of the field, I knew would be empty seeing as break was nearly over.

When I was a safe distance from the two of them, I felt my eyes fill with tears, but blinked them back. I refused to cry over Mickie again. I pushed the doors open, the chill wind immediately hitting me, making me pull my coat tighter around myself as I walked to my right and leant against the walling, letting myself slide down it, sitting on the floor, with my legs pulled up.

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Mickie's P.O.V

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"What was all that about?" I asked Courtney, trying to decide whether or not I should go after Arizona. I wasn't sure if she would want me to go after her, I didn't want to cause her any more pain than I already have. I wanted to go after her to make sure that she was okay, that whatever Courtney had said hadn't upset her.

"She has a short temper." It wasn't an answer to my question, and I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes at her. I was angry that she had confronted Arizona even though I had warned her to stay away from us. Clearly what I had said to her meant nothing.

I didn't feel like dealing with Courtney and her attitude this morning, especially when it seemed like my girlfriend was upset. I went to walk past her to follow the direction Arizona had gone and hopefully find her but Courtney stopped me by blocking my way. I tried to push past her but she wouldn't let me, I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "What do you want Courtney?" I asked, the annoyance clear in my voice.

"Don't go after her Mickie." I was shocked by her statement, who did she think she was to tell me not to go after my girlfriend. She wasn't in control of me, nor my actions, what I did was none of her concern.

"Why? Because you don't want me to?" Her face said it all. She didn't want me to go after Arizona, she would rather I stayed here with her. I laughed, before walking past her, I wasn't lying when I told her to stay away from me, I wanted as little to do with her as possible. Part of it was due to the fact I couldn't control my emotions around her, and while I was still with Arizona the last thing I wanted was to make another mistake like kissing Courtney.

I had no clue where Arizona would have gone, but knowing everything I did about her I guessed she would be outside. I pushed open the doors to the field and looked around, finding Arizona sitting down with her back against the wall. I closed the door behind me and walk towards her, dropping my bag to the floor I sat down beside her.

Nothing was said between the two of us, as we sat listening to the bell ringing out signalling the end of break, neither of us made a move to leave for our classes, instead we continued to sit there in silence for a few more minutes.

"I can't do this Mickie." Arizona spoke up finally, but didn't make turn to face me, instead she continued to stare straight ahead. I didn't say anything in response, having a feeling she had more to say. "I can't wait for you, knowing that you'll pick Courtney over me."

I didn't know what to say in response, it seemed like she had already made up her mind. I didn't even know what made her think I was going to pick Courtney. I didn't even realise that what I was doing was picking between the two of them. Hadn't I already picked Arizona?

"Can you just give me some space Mickie?"

I stood up and told her I could give her as much space as she needed, receiving a simple nod of her head in response. I didn't want to leave her here alone when she was upset, but I knew it was what she wanted, and I honestly I think I needed to take some space, because clearly this situation was a lot more completed than I thought it was.

*********

One week later

"I'll see you after school."

I smiled at her, everything feeling the way it should be, this was who I was meant to be with. The person who made me the happiest, who I couldn't help but think about, who I could see myself starting a serious relationship with. I had made many mistakes, one of them being that I allowed myself to go between Courtney and Arizona as if they didn't have feelings of their own.

"Don't miss me too much." She winked at me before walking off in the direction of her class. I watched her walk away with a huge smile on my face. She was absolutely gorgeous, and she was mine. No one was going to get in our way, not now, not after everything we had been through together, the arguments, the hurting. It had been a week since I had practically begged her to give us a chance, I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but this is what I wanted and I was sure that this is what she wanted too.

I walked slowly to class, feeling unbelievably nervous. I was going to have to spend two hours with the one person I really didn't want to spend any time with. Things would no doubt be awkward between the two of us, just like it had been for the past week.

The class was almost full and I could see her sitting there in her usual seat, my usual seat beside her empty. I took a deep breath before walking towards my seat. She smiled at me as I approached. "Good afternoon Mickie." I smiled back at her and wished her a good afternoon before taking my seat. I knew that no matter what she said, I had hurt her and caused her pain, no matter how much she liked to pretend that she was okay with my current relationship she wasn't.

The lesson was passing a lot quicker and smoother than I imagined it would. I was in the middle of copying notes down from the board when I froze, my pen stopping mid word. I looked down and found my assumptions were correct. Her hand was resting on my thigh. Not moving, just resting. I looked to my right and watched as she continued to take notes as if she didn't have her hand on my thigh.

What was she playing at? Even when things between us were very good and we were close she was never this forward, I always knew she wanted to but she never did. It was always just a kiss, nothing more.

Deciding I had no other choice since she was choosing to ignore me, I pushed her hand from off my thigh. Even that failed to draw her attention, she continued to write like nothing had happened. I shook my head and decided to think nothing of it. Maybe I was going mad, maybe she hadn't touched me at all, maybe I had just imagined it because I wanted to feel her gentle touch once more.

I jumped up from my seat the second time her hand found its way to my thigh, much higher this time. I had definitely not imagined it that time. The whole class turned to face me and I felt my cheeks blush brightly, I looked away from my teacher to where she was sitting, her elbow on her desk and her head on her hand, looking up at me with a confused expression.

"Miss James, is there a problem?" Is there a problem? Yes, the girl sat beside me is harassing me, and no one can see it. No one would believe she would do that, she didn't look like someone who would.

"Er no Miss, sorry Miss." I apologised before taking my seat, shuffling a little further away, without making it obvious that I had done so.

The rest of the lesson passed quickly with no more incidents, but as we all getting reading to leave the classroom, I couldn't get it out of my mind. Even if it meant nothing, it still shouldn't be happening, if my girlfriend had found out what she had done... She wouldn't be alive to try it again.

I couldn't help myself as I called her name, and took hold of her arm gently, stopping her from travelling any further. I needed her to know that whatever that was last lesson, it could never happen again. "What the hell was that?" I asked her, pulling her away from the crowds so we could speak to one another. She frowned at me before lightly shaking her head at me.

"What was what Mickie?" She asked playing innocent. I really wondered what was going through her mind, why was she choosing to act like this?

"You know what." I answered feeling slightly angered by this whole act. I thought she was okay with this, okay with my relationship. I told her I wanted to go back to being friends like we had been, but she had told me she couldn't do that, she couldn't just be my friend, that it would be much better if we acted casual, a 'good morning here' and a 'good afternoon' there. It broke my heart to know that after everything we'd been through together, our relationship had turned to this.