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Courtney's P.O.V

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Don't go after her. It wasn't that hard to understand. All Mickie had to do was leave Arizona alone, this time not go after, this time not try to fix things with her, and yet she couldn't do that. Mickie had to follow her, had to try and make things right, even though I had clearly told her not to do so. It felt like it was years ago that Mickie and I were close, back then she would never have gotten annoyed with me and walked away when I asked her to do something. This was her last chance, and she had blown it, she had again chosen to leave me alone and go after Arizona, but I wasn't going to let her do it again, my pride wouldn't allow me to.

Pushing open the door to my living room, I throw my bag onto the couch and grab my laptop from the coffee table before taking a seat beside my bag. I sigh as I tuck my feet up underneath me and turn my laptop on, smiling when a picture of me and Mickie when we were ten fills the screen.

Mickie's hair is her natural light brown colour and she has her arm wrapped around me, a huge smile on her face, while I stand beside her with a smirk on my face as I know that any moment Violet Nahum, my year six enemy, is about to find her expensive snow globe that she won for being the 'sweetest' student smashed because I 'accidentally' knocked it over.

The moment the photo is taken little Miss Sweetest Student will find the smashed snow globe and scream out, and Mickie, being her kind self, will run to try and help, but I will stop her, telling her that the globe was rightfully her's not Violet's, and that she didn't deserve Mickie's kindness. Mickie will of course listen to me and stay with me watching as all the teachers and parents crowd around Violet.

Violet Nahum wasn't the only one who didn't deserve Mickie's kindness, so many people don't deserve her kindness. It angered me to think that I had spent years making sure no one took advantage of her good nature but the minute Arizona Levy walks in that all changes. Arizona was able to take advantage of her and Mickie didn't even realise it, I had tried again and again to make sure that it didn't happen, but Mickie seemed hellbent on letting Arizona control her.

I slammed the lid of my laptop down, not wanting to see the picture any longer, with good timing too, as the sound of the doorbell rang out through the empty house. I groaned and sent a silent prayer that it wasn't Marc, I really couldn't deal with him today of all days. I placed my laptop down on the sofa and slowly walked to the front door knowing that whoever it was knocking could wait just a little while longer.

"Hey," Mickie smiled brightly at me as I pulled open the front door, she looked freezing standing there, her coat done right up and her scarf wrapped tightly around her neck. "can I come in?" She asked, making me push the front door open wider for her to enter, she understood my actions and stepped into the house.

Things were tense between us as she took a seat on the sofa, the same seat I had just been sitting in. I moved my bag and sat down beside her, she turned her body around so we were facing one another. I didn't know what to say to her or what to ask her, I was still unhappy with her for leaving me earlier today.

"I'm sorry for just dropping by like this." Mickie said, breaking the awkward silence between us gratefully. I had no clue why she was here, but if it was anything to do with Arizona Levy then I didn't want to hear it, I didn't feeling like being threatened by her again.

I shrugged my shoulders, not really caring about the fact she had just 'dropped by' unexpectedly. I was happy to see her but I was still feeling hurt by her decision to leave me standing there alone this morning while she went after her girlfriend. I hated saying that word when it came to Mickie, it didn't sound right to be addressing another girl as her girlfriend.

"I wanted to talk about earlier, and about what you said tuesday." She wanted to talk about tuesday, the day I had tried to sort things out between the two of us, and the day she had rejected me and walked away.

"Go on then, talk." My words came out sounding a lot harsher than I had meant them to be. Yes I was still annoyed with her, but I didn't want to be cruel to her, despite how I might act, the last thing I wanted was to act like a cold hearted bitch towards her. "I'm apologise, what is it you want to talk about?"

"I just want to know if you meant what you said, about us going back to the way things were." Had I meant it, of course. I had wanted things to go back to the way they were, but she had made it blatantly obvious she didn't want to. I didn't need to hear her tell me that again.

"I did mean it."

She smiled at me and moved closer to me. "I'm glad you did, because I agree, I really want to go back to the way things were." She told me, I looked into hazel-green eyes and saw that she was telling the truth, her eyes kept my gaze and when Mickie did lie her eyes wouldn't remain focused.

"How does your girlfriend feel about that?" I asked, the word girlfriend sounding wrong when I used it, and my discomfort with the word was made evident in my tone of voice, and from the look on Mickie's face she wasn't impressed with the way I had said the word.

Mickie's eyes began to wander, no longer holding my gaze, that told me all I needed to know, she was about to lie to me. Why she felt like she needed to lie to me I had no idea, but I was certain Arizona had no idea that Mickie was here or anything that Mickie was about to say to me.

"It's over between us, you were right." Lie. I had feeling that her telling me that I was right was her lying, I knew what she was talking about when she said I was right, but I wanted her to tell me what I was right about.

"I was right?" I asked, pretending to not understand what she meant by that. I was curious to see whether or not she would actually agree with what I said even though it meant her badmouthing her girlfriend.

She nodded, but her eyes told me she was conflicted between lying to me and not, "Arizona was a mistake, I should never have agreed to go out with her. I should have left her alone like you told me to." Lie, lie, lie. Three lies in a row, did Mickie not realise I knew her well enough to know when she was lying to me?

Deciding to play along to see where she was going with this, I smirked at her, and brought my hand to her arm, allowing my fingers to run up and down it, my smirk becoming real when I saw how nervous my action made her. "So what does that mean Mickie?

"It means I want to give us a try Court, I want to give us a chance." No she didn't, I could see there was some truth in that statement but I could tell that a bigger part of her didn't want that. She didn't want us to start a relationship, not now, and I didn't want one either.

Wanting to show her that this was a game she couldn't get away with playing my hand left her arm and found the zipper of her coat, slowly I pulled it down watching Mickie's eyes widen in shock. I smirked knowing that soon she would forget about her girlfriend, forget about pretending to want to be with me, despite everything she loved me and still craved my touch.

"You want us to have a relationship?" I asked just as I finished unzipping her coat, my hand resting on her stomach over her cardigan. Too nervous to speak, she nodded in response, her eyes trailing down to where my hand was resting. "This is what you want?" With my words I moved my hand to under her cardigan and t-shirt to rest on her bare stomach, feeling her muscles tense beneath my hand, making me smirk once more.

Mickie nodded again, but it wasn't as fun when she didn't respond with words. "I need you to tell me Mickie, is this what you want?" With my free hand I lifted her chin up so her eyes met mine, still seeing the shock in them.

"This is what I want Courtney." That's all I needed to hear. The game was truly over and done with now. I pulled my hand from under her shirt and stood up, crossing my arms over my chest.

"This is not what I want Mickie, I'm not like you, I'm not like this." My words were harsh, but it was the least she deserved for believing she could come over and lie to me about wanting to be with me, I didn't know why she wanted to make me believe she wanted to be with me, but whatever the reason I wasn't going to give her the answer she expected.

"B-but you..." Mickie stuttered, trailing off as she looked at me in disbelief. She stood up too, and I could see her confusion turning to anger. "If you didn't want me, why would you do that?" She asked, zipping her coat back up, and pushing past me towards my front door. When she got to the front door she stopped and looked at me waiting for an answer.

"It was just a little fun, lighten up-" I didn't get to finish my sentence as Mickie yanked the door open and left slamming it in my face.

The smirk left my lips and the my amusement disappeared knowing that even though Mickie was lying about wanting to be with me, I had her, I had my chance to win her over and I blew it. All because of my damn pride.

*********

A week passed quickly, and I spent each day having to watch Mickie with Arizona all over her, touching her, kissing her. I couldn't stand watching them together, it angered me, and it hurt me too. Though I pretended not to care, in fact I acted sweeter than before, pretending to be okay with the abomination that was their relationship.

Walking to my biology class I shared with Mickie, I had a plan in my head, I was going to show Mickie that I wouldn't just sit back and let Arizona win. I was going to remind her of the effect I had on her.

The class was empty as I entered the room, I was early for a change, ignoring the teachers look I made my seat, waiting patiently for Mickie to arrive. After nearly five minutes of waiting she arrived, looking so very nervous, I watched as took a deep breath before walking towards her seat beside me. I smiled at her as she approached me. "Good afternoon Mickie." I greeted her, receiving a smile in return from her.

Writing the notes for the lesson, I stole a quick glance at Mickie, she was furiously copying her notes down, paying no attention to me. This was the best moment I was going to get. My left hand left the desk and slowly made it's way to her thigh. Out if the corner of my eye I saw her hand stop writing, it took her a few seconds to react but eventually she looked down at her thigh.

I was still copying notes when she looked at me, pretending not to notice that she was looking at me I kept my eyes on by paper only looking up to read the notes off the board. I felt her push my hand off her thigh and chose to ignore it, knowing that wasn't the end of this. She went back to writing her notes and when she looked like she had forgot the whole incident, I decided to try again.

In one smooth movement I moved my hand from my side to rest high up on her thigh. Though it didn't stay there long as Mickie jumped up from her seat, causing my hand to fall, a deep crimson colour filling her cheeks. I leant my elbow on my desk and my head on my hand as I looked up at her, a fake confused expression on my face.

"Miss James, is there a problem?"

"Er no Miss, sorry Miss." Mickie responded, feeling completely embarrassed, she took her seat once more beside me, moving just a little further away from me. I didn't respond to that knowing my actions were already enough to cause her to think about it. I finished copying my notes just as the lesson ended.

Packing my stuff into my back I left the room as quickly as possible, slowing down when I heard her call my name and coming to a complete stop when she took hold of my arm. "What the hell was that?" She asked me, pulling me away from the crowds to the side so that we could speak to one another.

I frowned at her and shook my head, "What was what Mickie?" Wondering what she thought that just was.

"You know what." She told me, her expression telling me she was angry with me, and of course I knew what she was talking about. I loved the effect I had on her with just a simple touch, not just her reaction when I touched her, but the way she couldn't brush it off and let it go.

Giving her a smile I leant forward and brushed a few stray hairs from her face, tucking them behind her ear, "Don't you miss it Mickie?" I asked her, knowing she did miss it. I watched her shake her head at me and she went to respond but I cut her off, "Don't you miss my touch?" I asked and ran my hand down her bare arm, smirking when she shivered at my touch.

"No, I love my girlfriend's soft, loving touch."

I frowned, not expecting her answer, "What about my kisses? I miss watching you blush after every time my lips made contact with yours." I moved my faces closer to her and lowered my voice, making certain that no one would hear us. When she didn't respond, I took it as my cue to take things further, leaning closer towards her I watched her eyes widen.

"Mickie." Arizona's voice rand out stopping me from doing what I wanted to. Mickie swallowed nervously and let out a small sigh of relief, telling me that she knew what was just about to happen if her girlfriend hadn't interrupted us. Mickie turned around to face her, and Arizona smiled at her walking towards us, she wrapping an arm protectively around Mickie's waist.

"Hey you, we were just talking." Mickie told her, her voice showing just how nervous she was. I couldn't help but think about how Mickie would have responded if Arizona hadn't interrupted us.

"So what were you talking about?" Arizona asked looking directly at me for an answer.

A small smirk made it's way onto my lips, there was so much I could tell her, I could explain to her exactly what our conversation meant.

"We were just discussing how much your girlfriend misses me." I told her honestly, and watched both expressions change, Mickie looked almost petrified and Arizona looked beyond angry with me.

"Can't you just give it a rest, Mickie and I are happy together, she picked me." Her words wound me up, how dare she talk to me like that. Who the hell did she think she was, her smirk got to me even more, and I was going to wipe it off her face.

"She picked you?" A cruel laugh escaped my lips, my eyes found Mickie's, silently they begged me not to do what I was about to, and not to say what she knew I was going to. But her begging meant nothing to me, her girlfriend needed to learn a lesson. "Did she not tell you how I rejected her the day before?" The tone of my voice was mocking as my eyes met hers.

"What?" The word left her mouth and she turned Mickie to face her, her face full of anger and hurt. "Is this true?" She asked, and I saw Mickie's face fall, desperately searching for an answer that that might not hurt Arizona quite as much.

"Lost for words Mickie?" I asked a smirk on my lips and a smug expression on my face, I didn't want to hurt Mickie but knowing I could know Arizona from a high horse made me smirk."I think I recall you telling me how your girlfriend was a mistake, that you should never have agreed to go out with her." I finished, watching Mickie go from looking hurt to angrier than I had ever seen her before.

"I... I'm so sorry-" Mickie began to apologise and lifted her hand to Arizona's cheek but she simply slapped her hand away and cut her off.

Arizona's eyes filled with tears as she shook her head, "No you're not, I mean nothing to you, and I see that now." Mickie tried to stop her but it was no use, Arizona was gone leaving in the direction she came from.

"You hadn't told her." I feigned shock when Mickie turned her attention to me, I could see the anger burning in her eyes, Mickie had never intimated me or made me nervous, but right now I was feeling a little of both as she took a step towards me.

"You actual bitch." Her words shocked me but I had no time to process them as her hand met my cheek, causing me to flinch and cup my now throbbing cheek. She had just slapped me, she had raised her hand to me. I was in complete shock as I stared at her.

When she began to walk away from me I snapped out of it and ran to catch up with her, grabbing her arm I pulled her back and finding an empty class room I pulled her inside with me, shutting the door behind us.

"What are you playing at Courtney? Why are we in here?" She asked me, I could still see how angry she was as her hands were shaking as she paced around the room in front of me.

"Because we need to talk." I told her simply, we really did need to talk, there was so much I had yet to tell her, so much I hadn't told her that I should have done. I didn't know where to start or even what I should tell her.

She walked towards the closest desk and sat down on it, looking at me she crossed arms over her chest. "What do we need to talk about Courtney?" I swallowed nervously and walked towards her, sitting down on the desk next to hers.

This was it, my last chance to tell her everything, tell her how I feel. I couldn't chicken out now, not again, I had to try, even if she knocked me back. I needed her to know what I felt, I needed to stop hiding and pretending. I took her hand in mine and let out a long sigh, pushing away all the fears and doubts.

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Mickie's P.O.V

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"I started having feelings for you..." Was she being serious? She had feeing's for me? When? How had I missed that? "I thought I could just ignore them and that they would just go away... But they never went away..."

"They're never going to go away Court," I told her, suddenly feeling sorry for her and not so angry with her anymore, understanding what it was she meant, and watched her expression change to an emotion I didn't recognise. Snatching her hand out of mine she ran it through her hair, "I know it's hard but it's the truth."

"I can't be..." She paused searching for the right word or phrase, "I can't be like this Mickie, I can't be like you." Like you. Gay. She can't be gay. That's what she meant, but she was wrong. She can be, and is, gay but she is choosing to accept the truth, and really she should be saying doesn't want to be gay, not that she can't be gay.

Sighing I stood up from the desk I was sitting on, my attention turned to Courtney as I watched her play with a few loose strands of hair, something she often did when she didn't know what to say or how to act. "Why I am I here then Court? You gave me practically the same speech last time, I don't need to hear it again." She still didn't say anything as I reached for my bag and started to walk towards the classroom door. "I have to go and

try and make it up to my girlfriend."