The next morning, Miles sits at a booth of a local diner, nervously tapping his foot as he waits for Chelsea. "Okay, this might be.. awkward, but.. I need to do this.", Miles thinks to himself. He looks at his reflection in the glass of water, thinking "What am I doing? Am I really just running back to her..?", but his thoughts are halted by the sound of the diner door opening, a familiar figure with red hair, entering hesitantly.
Miles' eyes widen as he shifts in his seat slightly as she spots him in the booth, refusing to wave and simply walking up to him, sitting across from him. She smiles slightly as she says "Hey..", a smile that doesn't reach her eyes. Miles looks down, and responds "Yeah, hey. It's uh.. been a while.", before finally looking up at her, taking in her appearance, notably her fox plushie bag.
They sit in uncomfortable silence, until a diner waitress breaks the silence, asking "Can I take your order?", to which the both open their mouths to respond, before Miles chuckles "Oh, sorry. You first.", but Chelsea responds "I.. I don't.. want anything. Thanks though."
As the waitress leaves, Miles finally says "Thanks for.. coming to see me.", to which Chelsea says "I mean.. it seemed important, so..", loosening the grip she had on her bag. Miles looks down at his glass of water, saying "It's.. about my friend, Shane.", Chelsea looks at him, confused, asking "The Prince? What about him?". Miles looks down, worriedly, saying "I think he's being.. bullied? But I just.. don't know what he could've done to deserve this.", Chelsea looks down at his shaking hands on the table, her hand reaching towards his, but retreating back to her pockets, as she says "I.. know you wanna help in any way you can. It's sort of.. your thing. But.. don't you think you should sit this one out?".
Miles looks up at her, still not making eye contact, saying "What? What do you mean?", to which Chelsea, noticing Miles' worry, looks down, quietly saying "Forget it. Sorry.". Miles reassuringly says "No, it's okay. I just.. need help with this. I can't do this alone, Chels.. Please.". Chelsea says "It's just that.. everytime you stick your neck out to help someone, you always get cut, you know?". Miles opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out, as he stutters for a response. But as Chelsea says "My bad, I didn't mean to..", Miles says "I just can't sit by while the ones I love are..!", finally making eye contact with her.
He sits back in his seat, after seeing Chelsea's eyes widen, saying "Please.. I need to help him before something.. worse happens.". Chelsea fidgeting with her sleeve, finally saying "I'll help.", but whispering to herself "If it means I get to fix what we had..". Miles sits up, his eyes lighting up as he asks "Wait.. Really?", to which Chelsea, seeing Miles' face light up, smiles genuinely as she nods, extending her fist to him. Miles, initially hesitant, smiles softly and they bump fists.
As they walk out of the diner, Miles asks "So, what can I.. Oh, I mean, we. What can.. we do to stop these guys from bullying Shane?", to which Chelsea says "You said you saw Anny in the crowd? Maybe that's what he meant when he told you that he 'hurt the wrong girl'.". Miles sighs, noticing how Chelsea kept her distance from him, walking just at arm's length, which makes him stop in his tracks. Chelsea looks back at him, confused as he looks down, asking "Things aren't okay between us, are they?", which makes Chelsea freeze in her tracks, and she asks "Wh.. What..?". Miles walks towards her, frustration turning to desperation as she walks backwards, away from him.
"What..? What are you doing?!", he asks, as he walks faster towards her, but she shouts "N.. Nothing..! Now, just.. stop!". Miles, breathing heavily, shouts "Just.. stop!", to which Chelsea says "But.. I can't..! Not again..!". Miles' voice cuts through the scene as he shouts "I'm not made of glass, Chelsea!!", breathing heavily, as tears fill his eyes. Chelsea gasps in shock, too stunned to speak, as she clutches her bag tighter, as Miles continues "I told you at the ceremony, remember? You matter to me, okay!?". Chelsea's eyes well up, as she turns her back to him, in an effort to hide her face from him.
Miles walks closer to her, as she tearfully mutters "I don't wanna hurt you again.. I won't let it happen again.", but Miles hugs her from behind, shocking her to her core as a shiver runs down her spine. Miles buries his face in the fabric of her coat, and mutters "The only thing that's gonna hurt me right now.. is knowing that I lost someone important to me. Knowing that I could've tried harder to keep things between us okay..". Chelsea bows her head, as she grits her teeth, fighting back her tears, as he shoulders shake slightly. Miles softly grabs her coat from behind, as he sobs "You matter to me, Chels.. And I...; I know I matter to you, too. Please.". Chelsea looks down, refusing to look him in eyes as the rain begins to fall.
"You should probably.. get home, Miles. Before it gets too late.", she says, coldly, before running away from him, leaving her coat behind, as he watches her disappear in the distance. Miles, in tears opens his mouth to shout, but only whispers "Come back..".
Elsewhere, Shane meets with Anny in a library, in private. They exchange cold looks before she sits one seat away from him, Shane saying "Very mature.", as he closes the magazine he was reading. Anny grits her teeth, shouting "Who do you think you..!?", but catching herself, instead saying "I.. I don't have anything to say to you, Shane. Why did you call me here?". Shane, angrily crumbles the paper in his fist, as he says "We both know that's not true, Anny. When we were dating, you always hated how much I kept things inside, instead of talking. Now, here you are, making your little posse do the talking instead..". Anny finally looks at him, saying "Do you never let that shtick go, Shane? I told you, that mouth of yours is gonna get you in trouble someday."
Shane, initially angry, turns his face into a fake smile as he says "Aw, finally built up the bravery go say that to my face? Really needed me to get beat up before you could find the confidence to say it? You're pathetic.". Anny's grip on her umbrella tightens as she shouts "You used me, you bastard!", but Shane nonchalantly throws the magazine off the desk, saying "And you used my status, to get what you really wanted. Trust me. You don't wanna play the blame game right now.". Anny's mouth hangs open in shock, as she says "You're..! You're such a child!", as she gets up to leave. Shane doesn't bother looking back at her as she says "Is it so hard to believe that the world doesn't revolve around you?", but is met with chuckling from Shane. She says, on her way out "I hope you're happy.", as she slams the door on her way out.
As the room grows silent, his laughter turns to soft sobbing as he angrily says "I am."