Mia struggled to eat, with only the mobility of the wrong arm, and even then, it was still painful enough to force her to use only her forearm and down.
Still, she took small bites at her food.

"I don't like eating anymore." She declared with a smile, rolling her eyes.
"I'm starting to regret jumping off that building." She added nonchalantly.
She couldn't imagine what it would have done to the poor cafe's business either.

"Am I going to have to spoon-feed you?" Chase teased. He felt guilty about eating in front of her, especially because she looked so pitiful and frustrated at the same time. "I'm sorry. This was a bad idea." He looked down at his plate and frowned. "You want your drink?" His pathetic attempt at changing the subject was poorly veiled, even with the smile that accompanied it.

"I'm glad you're regretting it, though. Maybe that means you won't do it again."

Mia stuck her tongue out at chase and took a voracious bite of her food.

She'd certainly learned a lesson from the whole ordeal. For so long, it never mattered how close she cut it, the only person who would care would be her, and perhaps her family if word got 'round.
She didn't know why, but since Chase came around, she felt she had a friend to live for. It suddenly mattered if she did something like this again.

"I learned my lesson." She pouted, looking innocently to Chase like a child.

"Good." He took another bite, but found it hard to swallow with guilt clouding his head. "But...it wasn't your fault. Not entirely." He suddenly found himself talking, and fast. "I was the one who made you angry. I was angry, too. But I provoked it. I shouldn't have said the things I did, and I shouldn't have told you to leave. If you hadn't, maybe you wouldn't have fallen." He took a breath. "But don't think I took you in out of guilt. That's not it. I'm not being nice to you because I feel sorry for you, so don't start in on me about that. I want to take care of you until you get better because you're my friend. At least, I hope you are. Friends don't treat each other the way I treated you that day. And, what I'm getting at, I guess, is that I'm really sorry." Color flooded his cheeks; he didn't ever talk that much. He took an embarrassed bite of his sandwich and chewed slowly.

Mia mulled over Chase's words for a minute, feeling a quiet happy warmth spread through her. She couldn't help but smile.
She didn't know what to say with words, so she simply hoped she could convey her meaning with her eyes. She was just happy Chase was even there, being the friend he was. Even if she had broken every bone in her body in that fall, she would have felt happy anyway, just because of Chase.

She took another small bite of her food.
The silence wasn't awkward, wasn't sad.
Just... Warm.

Chase cleared his throat, not exactly sure what to say after that. He felt a little strange- outbursts like that were not like him. But he was also glad that he had finally said what was on his mind. He watched Mia smile, and a light turned on behind her eyes. Maybe, just maybe, he was forgiven?

"Are you mad at me?" He had to know. She didn't look mad, not in the slightest, but he was one of those people who just had to know those things. It made him sound a little desperate and reaching, but he didn't really care at that moment.

Mia rested her head on her one mobile palm with a content sigh.
"No, I'm not mad." She said, truthfully.
She should have been mad, at herself, but in all honesty, she was glad. It brought the two somehow closer, made the friendship even tighter, at least to Mia it felt like it.

She smiled faintly, but smiled nonetheless.
"Are you mad?" She asked, the smile quickly falling from her face.

Chase shook his head slowly. "Not anymore," he answered honestly. "To tell you the truth, I was more panicked than mad after you fell. It was certainly a new way to end a fight." He bit the corner of his lip. "That...was probably one of the most horrific sights of my life. God," he shuddered as the image of a crumpled Mia on the ground, bleeding and broken, popped back into his mind. "Don't you ever do that again."

For a moment, the room felt painfully silent, empty before the two of them.
"Hah, yeah, sorry about that whole fall ordeal." She quickly answered, looking down towards the table, then crawling her gaze back up to Chase.

She wasn't conscious for the most part, but for what she was awake for certainly hurt. She wondered how long she'd been sitting in the snow for before she was hospitalised.

"Hey... When did you find me?" She asked, curiously.
She had no idea why she was so curious about her own near-death accident.

Chase sighed, staring down at the table. "Not soon enough. Not nearly as quick as I should have," he admitted. "I was sulking, like a child. It was probably almost a half an hour after you left before I found you." He sighed again, raking a hand through his hair. "This is depressing," he said after a minute. He looked up at her and locked his eyes with hers, holding the glance for a long moment. "What am I going to do with you, Mia Ethans?" he asked her, half joking...but half not.

Mia frowned and fiddled absently with her fork.
"I can't remember what I said, but I said something awful. I know I did." She lightly bit her lip, thinking hard.
"Whatever I said... I'm sorry for." She concluded. The memory simply wasn't in her mind anymore, there was just a big blank.

"But you know... Sometimes, I ask myself the same question." She answered involuntarily. She didn't know why she had said it, but she did.

Chase frowned, as well. "One day at a time, right?" That was all they had. He stood up, finished with his meal, and walked over to Mia. He hugged her quickly, a little awkward because of the chair, and ruffled her hair with his hand. "One day at a time." He smiled, picked up the tray, and returned it to the counter. "Are you ready to go?" he asked. It was almost sunset.

Mia grinned. It felt alot better having talked with Chase, having ridden the looming doubt from her heart. She wasn't sure what was ahead, but she felt happy enough to take on anything the world could throw at her.

"Ready when you are." She agreed. The sun was just falling below the horizon, painting the sky shades of orange and purple.

"Pretty sunset, huh?" She mused, smiling, "When I get my limbs back, I'll have to take you onto the rooftops to see the sunset..."

Chase nodded as he wheeled her outside. "I actually like sunrises better," he admitted. "You have to get up pretty early to see those - but it's totally worth it. Sunsets are pretty, too." It didn't take long to get back to the store, and he unlocked the door, pulling it open and pushing Mia inside, back to the small house behind the store. "Mia, I'm going to my room for a little while," he said. "You can join me for another movie if you want. If not...I'll see you tomorrow." He smiled, reaching up to put his hand on the back of his neck.

Mia was about to say something along the lines of 'I'm bored', but one of the more annoying and effective waves of lethargia swept over her with a yawn.
"I'm actually... Kinda tired all of a sudden." She answered weakly, "I wonder why?"

Mia briefly shook her head into focus.
"I think... I might just go to sleep now." She smiled sleepily.

Chase smiled and nodded his head. "OK," he agreed. "That actually sounds pretty nice. I think I'll do the same. But don't hesitate to call for me if you need anything, okay? I'm right down the hallway. The remote for the TV is on the table," he reminded her. "If you need help getting into bed, let me know."

He headed down the hallway towards his room, and walked inside. He settled on the bed and picked up a novel he had borrowed from the local library and began to read.