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Mickie's P.O.V

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"Mickie?! Oh thank god."

"Courtney?" It wasn't a question, but I was so surprised to hear her voice it came out as one. "What's wrong?" I asked, hearing the worry and the concern in her voice, my hand was shaking as I held the phone up to my ear.

"It's Arizona." My free hand clenched the steering wheel so tight my knuckles started to turn white. Something was wrong with Arizona, was she okay? Was she hurt? I couldn't think straight as I waited for Courtney to continue her sentence. "You need to get to Chase hospital Mickie as soon as you can."

Why was Arizona at the hospital, and why was Courtney with her?

"Okay, I'll be there as quick as I can." I stumbled over my words as they all rushed out at once. I didn't bother to say goodbye to Courtney as I hung up the phone and chucked it alongside my bag on the chair, it's contents still strewn about the floor. I wasn't even sure I could drive in this state, my hands were shaking and I could only think the worst.

I arrived at the hospital in record time, climbing out of my car I didn't even bother to lock it as I ran towards the entrance. The automatic doors seeming to take forever as I rushed to find my girlfriend. I pushed past a guy holding his wrist which was bandaged, I muttered an apology as I leant over the reception desk to face the woman behind it.

"How can I help you?" She asked, not bothering to look up at me.

"My girlfriend, Arizona Levy, was-"

"Mickie!" I heard my name being screamed from down the end of the long waiting area, I turned around to see Courtney standing there, she looked almost scared, a look not familiar with Courtney Diamond. I ran towards her and immediately fell into her open arms. A place which was so familiar to me. I needed her right now, I needed to feel her arms around me and hear her comforting words, like she had so often done. "It's okay Mickie." She whispered, rubbing my back soothingly.

I sighed, burying my head even further into her shoulder, feeling her arms wrap tighter around me, pulling me closer to her. I missed this, I missed her. A part of me wishes that things had never changed between us and that we could just go back to being as close as we had once been. I pulled away from her, "Where is she? Is she okay? Is she hurt? Is it serious?" Questions just seemed to be leaving my mouth as I remembered the reason I was here. My girlfriend could potentially be lying dead somewhere in this place and I was busy being selfish and wishing things could be different between me and Courtney, right now I had to stay focused on Arizona and not how the close proximity to Courtney resulted in butterflies in my stomach and my heart rate speeding up.

"Mickie breathe. She's through here, c'mon on." Courtney gave me a small smile, as she took my hand and led me into a room full of beds, some with their curtains pulled, others with people surrounded by family and friends. Courtney led me to the end of the room, to the last few beds. Courtney pulled open a curtain revealing a rather bruised and battered looking Arizona, who broke into a smile upon seeing me.

"Funny seeing you here." She joked. I laughed at her lame joke, more out of relief then anything else. I had never felt so glad in my entire life, as I did right now knowing she was okay. I let go of Courtney's hand to hug Arizona. I wrapped my arms around her gently, not wanting to cause her any pain, but I failed to do as she took in a sharp breath. I jumped away from her, frowning when I saw her grimace in pain. "Few bruised ribs is all." Arizona told me, a small smile on her lips.

She patted the bed beside her and I sat down carefully as not to cause her anymore pain. Using her left hand she brushed a few stray hairs behind my ear, the action was strange considering she was right handed. I looked down and noticed that her right arm was bandaged, my eyes trailed upwards taking in the various bruises and the cuts. It was a lot more then a few bruised ribs.

"What happened Ari?" I asked her, lightly brushing my fingers across a particularly large bruise on her face. Who on earth would do something like this to her?

Arizona looked at me with sadness in her eyes, before shifting her gaze to just behind me where Courtney stood. I turned my head to follow her gaze and noticed that Courtney was looking anywhere but at us, she was clearly feeling uncomfortable having to be in the same room as Arizona and I.

Arizona cleared her throat, drawing my attention back to her, "I went into town to grab something to eat but I was jumped by a couple of guys," I didn't quite believe that a couple of guys would just jump her, she hadn't done anything, "they wanted my bag but when I refused they got a little... Violent." She rubbed the back of her neck and looked down at the bed, refusing to meet my eye.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. How could someone sink so low as to attack and beat someone all for the sake of a bag?

"And Courtney?" I asked, confused as to where she came into this.

Again Arizona looked past me to Courtney, this time however I didn't turn around, until Courtney spoke up.

"I decided to bunk geography and go shopping, I happened to find her, knocked out and brought her to the hospital." I knew Courtney was definitely one to play truant, but it seemed a little more than just a coincidence that the two would be in the same place at the same time. They were clearly hiding something from me. 

I felt Arizona entwine our fingers, drawing my attention back to my injured girlfriend. "What did the doctor say?"

"She told me that I had to spend the night," Seeing my worried face Arizona quickly continued, "just as a precaution because of the concussion, and to make sure I don't do anything that'll put any strain on my ribs for about a month until they heal."

I put my free hand on top of our joined hands. "Are you telling me the truth Ari?" I asked her, looking straight into her beautiful blue eyes, hoping they would tell me whether on not she was lying. Arizona opened her mouth to respond but immediately closed it.

"As interesting as this," Courtney's sarcastic tone brought our attention to her. "I have better things to be doing so I'm going to leave you two to it." She grabbed her bag pulling it onto her shoulder and pulled open the curtain to leave. I looked back at Arizona and then at Courtney's retreating back.

I didn't think twice as I stood up, and told Arizona that I would be right back before following Courtney. I pulled the curtain closed behind me, and jogged to catch up with Courtney. "Courtney." I called her name as she continued to speed walk to the entrance and exit of the the hospital, obviously trying to get as far away from here as quickly as possible, she ignored my calling, and with my other change I ran towards her, stretching oh my hand I gently grabbed her arm stopping her in her tracks. She turned around to face me a frown on her lips.

Neither one of us said anything as we stood there, blocking the way for patients to enter and exit. It wasn't until a nurse asked us to kindly stop standing in the middle of the hallway, that we didn't anything beside staring at one another. Courtney took my arm and lead me to an unoccupied area. She leant back against the wall, crossing her arms across her chest as she watched me intently, waiting to hear whatever it was I had to say.

"Is there something you want to say Mickie or what?" Courtney asked, sounding and looking annoyed and bored.

I sighed, partly due to Courtney's bad attitude, and partly due to the fact I didn't quite know what I wanted to say or how to start it. "What really happened today?" 

"Exactly what your girlfriend said happened." Courtney spat the word girlfriend, a look of displeasure crossing her face, as if the word left a bad taste in her mouth.

I couldn't help but frown at her, why was she acting like this? "There's more to it then that Court," She rolled her eyes at me causing me temper to rise, "can you just tell me and be honest with me for once in your life." I practically yelled at her, then realising I was in a hospital lowered my voice. "Please Court, I need to know."

"Look," Courtney started, running a hand through her hair. "you need to be talking to Levy, I can't tell you anything. If she wants to tell you the truth, she will, but I won't." Courtney pushed herself off the wall and walked past me, lightly brushing her shoulder against mine.

"So she is lying then?" I asked her, she didn't respond or take notice of what I had said.

I went to call her name but stopped myself, there was no point, when Courtney had her mind set on something she wasn't going to change it. I brought my hands up to my forehead and gently rubbed circles at my temple. Courtney had just admitted that Arizona was lying to me, but why would she do that? What could she possibly gain from lying to me about what happened to her?

Taking a few minutes to compose myself and trying to decided what I was going to about Arizona I sat down on one of the chairs in the waiting room. My head snapped up, hearing a familiar voice.

"Yes, it's my daughter Arizona Levy, L-E-V-Y." I watched Tom tell the receptionist who nodded and began to tap away on her computer. I stood up from my seat and walked towards him, noticing how distressed he looked. As I grew closer to him he turned around as if sensing my presence, his lips curled up in a small smile noticing me. He told the receptionist that it was fine, he didn't need her help anymore and walked towards me. "Mickie, it's good to see you." He told me, even though he was being friendly as he asked me if I was alright, I could tell he only had one thing on his mind. His daughter. Arizona.

"Arizona's this way Tom. She isn't too badly hurt, a few bruised ribs and cuts and bruises." I told him with the hope it would make him feel better as I lead him the way Courtney has lead me earlier.

On the way to the room where Arizona was currently staying I answered his questions about what had happened as best as I could, but considering I knew very little, and what I did know appears to be a lie, I did a very poor job of it. But I was determined to find out the truth, whether it came from Arizona or Courtney I didn't care, either way I was going to make one of them tell me.

*****

Arizona spent the night at the hospital, and neither I nor Tom could spend it with her, we were both sent home and told to return in the morning to pick her up to take her home. I   decided to take the day off school and Tom picked me up early in the morning so we could collect Arizona, we stopped at a bakery on the way to get her a coffee and a danish. When we arrived at the hospital Arizona was her usual cheery self, laughing a little and joking, it seemed the pain killers had finally kicked in as she was moving around a lot easier.

She was smiling at something the nurse told her as she spotted us, her grin grew and her blue eyes shone. It was so nice to see her like this, considering the pain she must be in, either she was putting on a very brave face or the pain killers were seriously strong.

"Good morning gorgeous." She greeted me, uncrossing her legs she got up off the bed and walked over to me, pulling me into a light hug, careful not to put too much pressure on her ribs. I wrapped my arms around her neck gently, trying to keep my distance from her body, I was afraid to cause her any more pain.

"I'm sorry I missed our date last night." She joked when we pulled apart, she looked from me to her dad. "Morning dad."

"Nice to see you're feeling better honey." Tom smiled at his daughter and took her bag from her. Her bag. If two guys had jumped her with the intention of stealing her bag and then beat her up when she refused to give it over, surely they would have taken her bag with them when they ran and left her unconscious. Arizona's story was becoming more and more unbelievable.

I didn't share another word as the three of us thanked and bid farewell to the nurses and the doctors. Arizona tried to start a conversation between the two of us, but I couldn't bring myself to respond to her, I was too lost in my thoughts to form a coherent sentence. Eventually Arizona gave up trying and started to argue with her dad over whether or not they should involve the police. That in itself was odd. If someone had attacked you wouldn't you want to inform the police and see the person brought to justice? None of this was making sense, and I couldn't think of a logical reason as to why Arizona would lie about what happened to her.

"Okay, that's it." Arizona cried out, a frown etched on her face, as she slapped the anthology in her hand down on the bed brining me out of my haze. I had been so lost in trying to figure out Arizona's lie that I didn't even remember arriving at Arizona's or her bedroom for that matter. "Why aren't you talking to me?" She asked,

"I am talking to you Ari." I told her, giving her a small smile.

Arizona shook her head at me, "Then why have you no more than two words to me since leaving the hospital?"

"Why did you lie to me about what happened to you?" I answered her with a question of my own, a question that threw her off and resulted in a few minutes of silence falling between us.

She let out a deep sigh, repositioning herself on the bed to get closer to me, "I wasn't lying." I would have believed her had it not been for the fact she once again rubbed the back of the neck.

"You'd be a good liar Ari, if you didn't have a tell tale sign." For the first time in a while she broke into a small smile.

"Rubbing the back of the neck." We said in unison, Arizona sighed once more, and took my right hand in her left.

"I did lie to you about what happened. I didn't want to tell you the truth, I was afraid of how you would react." I smiled at her when she stopped, encouraging her to continue, I needed  her to tell me the truth. "I wasn't attacked by a couple of guys who wanted to mug me, I was attacked by Marc."

"Marc? Marc Daniels?" I asked. Marc was an arrogant pig, and had made it clear on several occasions that he didn't approve of Arizona and I, but I didn't think it had it in him to attack and beat Arizona.

Arizona nodded her head in confirmation, "I said something that wound him up and he snapped, and I don't remember what happened after that."

I sat there for a while, taking in everything Arizona had just told me, realisation sinking in. "Courtney was there wasn't she." It wasn't a question, I just needed to hear her say it to make me believe it. Courtney was a lot things but I didn't think she could be this cruel. Not my Courtney, the Courtney I feel madly in love with.

"Yeah Mickie, she was there." I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose, feeling very overwhelmed. "She's the reason he was there, she wanted to scare me a little, she-"

"Why didn't you tell me this?" I cut her off, not wanting to here anymore about Courtney's part in Arizona's attack.

Arizona looked at me, sadness in her usually sparkling blue eyes, she looked so hurt and upset, I hated seeing her like this, it was worse then seeing her in physical pain. "How could I tell you that the girl you love must feel the same way, if she was prepared to threaten me to leave you alone? I was afraid to tell you incase you left me for her." She admitted looking down at the bed.

"That's crazy Ari, I'm not going to leave you because Courtney may or may not feel something for me."

I wouldn't leave her for Courtney, would I? If Courtney admitted to loving me the same way I loved her, I wouldn't just up and leave Arizona, or would I? My feelings for Arizona were growing with each day, but I loved Courtney and I couldn't deny that my feelings for her were much stronger. But I couldn't do that to Arizona, I couldn't do it to me either. Being with Arizona made me happy and made me feel safe, Courtney just caused me pain.

"You are going to confront her about it though, aren't you?" She asked, and from the tone of her voice she already knew the answer.

"I have to Ari, she can't get away with threatening you." Arizona just nodded and took her hand from mine, she gave me a small, forced smile and told me she was going to go and get us some drinks.

I spent the majority of the day with Arizona, making sure she relaxed and kept up the pain killers. Things were a little tense between us, but we did our best not to show it, even when I tried to convince her to go to the police and report what Marc had done, of course she refused and changed the conversation. When it reached late afternoon I told her I had something to do and had to leave, it was obvious that she knew what it was I was going to do but she didn't say anything as she kissed me goodbye and watched me star to make the short walk to my house to collect my car.

When I got to my house I pulled my keys from my pocket and unlocked my car, I ran my hand over the roof, thinking my plan through, trying to decide if I should just quit now and pretend Arizona had never told me truth, but I just couldn't do that.

I drove the short distance from my house to hers, nervously tapping my thumbs on the steering wheel. I still wasn't sure if I was doing the right thing as I walked up the pathway to her front door. I rang the bell and listened as the little tune played, I heard nothing for a few seconds then the sound of approaching footsteps. The door was pulled open to reveal a frustrated looking Courtney, whose eyes widened in shock seeing me standing here.

"Mickie, what are you doing here?" She asked me, no hello or 'would you like to come in', straight to the point.

"I had to see you Court, I know what really happened to Arizona." I told her and watched as she didn't react to this piece of information, over the years Courtney had gotten pretty good at not showing her emotions and not reacting.

It took her a few seconds to reply but she did, "You better come in then." She opened the door a little further to allow me to enter. I walked past her into her house, knowing it just as well as I did my own. I followed her lead and sat down on the sofa. "So, what did Levy tell you?"

"She told me that it was your boyfriend who had attacked her and that you had threatened her." Saying the word boyfriend caused such pain, and made my heart hurt, even though it was none of my business who Courtney dates and that I had a loving girlfriend.

Courtney rolled her eyes, "I didn't threaten her, I just asked her to leave you alone."

"But why Court, I'm happy with Arizona, why did you have to get involved?" I asked her, tired of her constantly making things worse for me and causing me some form of pain.

"Are you happy though Mickie? Are you really?" Was I happy with Arizona? Of course I was, she made me so happy.

"Yes I am happy."

Courtney stood up from the sofa and started to walk towards the door, like she had done on so many previous occasions when things weren't going her way. "Well then, I don't see a reason for you being here any longer, goodbye Mickie."

I stood up and walked towards her feeling angry that she was once again avoiding my questions and walking away from me. "No god damn it Courtney, we're settling this today, right now." I quickly closed the gap between us.

"I don't know what you want from me Mickie." Courtney crossed her arms over her chest, an amused tint in her eyes that only sought to infuriate me a little more.

"The truth might be a start, why did you threaten Arizona?"

"It doesn't matter why, the point is it worked." I frowned at her words and watched her traditional smirk appear on her lips. "You're here with me instead of with your pathetic girlfriend, I won just like I always do."

I lost all my restraint at those words and quickly closed the few feet that remained between us, "I hate you Courtney Diamond." I raised my fists and pounded them on her shoulders with every word, "I. Hate. You." I knew I wasn't hitting her hard enough to hurt her but it made me feel better, and with each hit she took a step back until her back was against the wall.

Before I knew what was happening Courtney had turned us so that now I was the one with my back against the wall. "You don't hate me really Mickie." Her voice was soft and caring as her hand caressed my cheek.

"I... I..." I stuttered. Of course I didn't hate her, despite all her faults and all the pain she put me through I couldn't hate her, I could never hate her.

She smiled at me, smiled, not smirked. "That's what I thought." I hated the fact I was proving her right and I hated the fact she had me back against the wall, literally. "Do you love her Mickie?" Her question threw me completely off guard. Did I love Arizona?

"No, but I know I can love her." Courtney's smile turned into a smirk once more, telling me I had given her the answer she wanted to hear.

"Do you love me Mickie?" This question was easier to answer. I loved Courtney more than anyone and anything, she held a special place in my heart. But I didn't want to tell her that, not when I was supposed to be moving on and forgetting her and not when I had a girlfriend.

"No." I told her simply, but I refused to look her in the eye as I did she. She stopped caressing my cheek and instead used her hand to lift my chin up so I was looking directly in her eyes.

"Let's try that again." She told me, her gorgeous green eyes burning into mine. "Do you love me?"

I swallowed and prepared myself to give her the same answer but instead of saying no, I whispered, "Yes."

She smiled at me and leaned forward gently pressing her lips to mine. Immediately I got lost in all things Courtney, her taste, her smell, her touch. God how much I missed her. The kiss was sweet and gentle and before long Courtney pulled away, the smile still on her lips. 

"That's what I thought." I smiled back at her as my heart continued to beat erratically. "So why don't we forget what happened between us and go back to the way things were."

I felt ecstatic but I couldn't help but feel like something wasn't quite right. Arizona. "What about Arizona?" I asked. Arizona meant a lot to me and it didn't feel right to pretend that she didn't.

Courtney raised an eyebrow at me, "What about her? She kept you company for a bit Mickie while I couldn't. But lets not kid ourselves, we both know she means nothing to you, no more then a..." She trailed off and thought for a moment, "a rebound girl."

A rebound girl? Is that what Arizona was to me? A little bit of fun to get my mind off the fact Courtney had rejected me. No, Arizona was more to me then just some silly rebound. I pushed Courtney away from me suddenly feeling disgusted for letting her sweet talk me and kiss me. She had kissed me, and worse I had kissed her back. I had cheated on Arizona with Courtney. What had I done?

"No you're wrong Courtney. Arizona isn't just some rebound girl, she means much more to me then that, and I want to be with her." Courtney scowled at me, anger burning in her eyes, "You back off and leave Arizona and I alone or I swear I'll go to the police and have you and your coward of a boyfriend arrested for harassment and assault."

I walked quickly out of her living room and made a quick escape from her house. I had to get as far away from Courtney diamond as possible. My whole body was shaking and I wasn't sure if it was down to fear, adrenalin, or the kiss I shared with Courtney, or perhaps a combination of all three. I had to go home, clear my head and then beg my girlfriend for her forgiveness. Most importantly I had to stay as far away from Courtney as possible, today proved my feelings for her were almost too strong to control.