Michael; after the Breakup

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at

http://archiveofourown.org/works/28103328.

Rating:
Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning:
No Archive Warnings Apply

Category:
F/M

Fandom:
The Princess Diaries - All Media Types

Relationship:
Michael Moscovitz/Mia Thermopolis

Character:
Michael Moscovitz, Mia Thermopolis, Lilly Moscovitz, Boris Pelkowski

Additional Tags:
Hurt/Comfort, Hope, Love, Friendship

Language:
English

Series:
Part 1 of Michael: From Breakup to Makeup

Stats:
Published: 2020-12-16 Words: 2564
 Michael; after the Breakup
by sofiyathealmostwriter

Summary

A look into Michael's experience after the breakup in Book 8, and his
own embarrassment and sadness while dealing with it. Hopeful ending.

Notes
See the end of the work for notes
Michael sighed heavily as he pushed away his laptop, the words of his latest
email stubbornly floating in his mind. His last two messages were pathetic,
so pathetic, in fact, that his now ex-girlfriend couldn't even be bothered to
reply to them.

Really? Egg sandwiches? What the hell compelled him to write that? It was
probably the image of her kissing J.P. [Reynolds-Abernathy the Fourth] in
the hallway that was imprinted in his mind. He had watched it happen, and
it was pretty obvious that she had no intention of kissing him on the mouth.
But that didn't make it any less painful. It wasn’t so much the kiss, but the
ease of which she smiled at him and moved to press her lips on his cheek.
Even throughout the years of their relationship, Michael always sensed that
Mia felt nervous when kissing him. There was a small part of his mind,
weak but hopeful, that said this was because she only felt that way for him.
But that voice was overpowered by the louder, hurt-filled part of his heart.

She and J.P. made more sense together, blatantly evidenced by the extreme
media support they had. Yeah, Michael had seen all of the polls comparing
them, and J.P. was winning by a landslide. He came from the same
community (rich and powerful); he was age-appropriate and in the same
chapter of life as her; he had the support of her snobby grandmother; Hell,
he probably even liked the lame musicals that Michael had snorted at many
times.

It was this thought that made Michael groan out loud, pushing his head into
his hands. Why couldn’t he have just pretended to enjoy those stupid shows
she’d dragged him to over the years? Maybe then none of this would be
happening and he wouldn’t have to deal with the raging headache he had. It
took him a few seconds to realize that his eyes were burning with moisture.

Michael was hardly what one could call a crier. He hadn’t shed a single tear
on the plane or even when he finally got up the courage to call her and
break up officially. But it was hitting him now. It was Mia’s continued
silence and discernable apathy that had finally gotten to him.

He calmed himself down after a few moments, pressing his eyes against the
palms of his hands. He dropped them slowly and unintentionally panned
over to the top right-hand drawer of his new desk. Inside the drawer was a
mess of his passport, notes, hand-sanitizer, and whatever else he’d just
thrown in there. And somewhere underneath all of that was a small box
holding the snowflake necklace he’d fished out from the carpet of the Ritz.
Of course, when he was crawling on his hands and knees looking for it, he
thought that they were just in a fight. He assumed that Mia had thrown the
necklace down in a moment of emotional haste, but that she’d regret it once
she cooled down and would want it back. He knew that she was upset about
him going to Japan for so long, but this was Mia, and she was prone to
dramatic outbursts. He couldn’t blame her; she was only sixteen and had a
lot of pressure on her.

Even after their argument, Michael still hadn’t considered that they were
actually breaking up, rather than just going on a break. But that was before
the kiss, and then the photos of them leaving the theater, and finally the gut-
retching “Michael. I’m sorry.” message followed by radio-silence.

That said it all, didn’t it? She had been serious when she said those things
about it not being fair for her to wait around for him. He realized that it
really wasn’t okay to expect that of her; she was still just sixteen. Even
though he had always assumed they’d stay together forever (kind of sappy,
but he really never considered the alternative), it was naïve to think so.
They were still just teenagers in their first serious relationship. And those
never end well.

And now they were barely broken up and she was already going out with
that guy, despite the fact that he had broken Lilly’s heart just days before.
That guy had weaseled his way in as soon as Michael’s plane took off, not
that Mia seemed to mind. He should have seen the signs, but no, he trusted
his girlfriend to only ever have eyes for him, just as he had for her.

There was now another voice in Michael’s head, the angry and bitter one
that had been emerging every so often since the breakup. All it took was
one day, one day and she had already replaced him. They weren’t even
subtle about it, getting their faces plastered over gossip magazines and
papers. And yeah, maybe they weren’t officially dating yet, but it was only
a matter of time. That voice told Michael that this was proof that Mia had
disregarded him entirely and was ready to move on without another
thought.

That’s why when he finally got to Japan and summed up his courage, he
called her. He told her that he wanted to just be friends, solidifying their
breakup. He even told her that the photos of her with J.P. didn’t matter,
which wasn’t entirely true, but nonetheless. There was a part of him that
wished she had stopped him, told him that she was willing, no, that she
wanted to wait for him. But she didn’t. All she said was okay and then
quickly hung up the phone. Michael had a gut feeling that she hung up so
fast because she was going to cry and the thought did hurt, but it didn’t
matter. Even if they still loved each other, they wouldn’t be able to move
past this. At least not now. Maybe their time apart would do them some
good, or maybe they’d both just move on and their failed relationship would
be just that, a failed relationship.

His anger dissipated as quickly as it appeared. All he wanted right now was
a lifeline to her. He wanted to do what he said he would: be her friend. He
didn’t want to forget her, and he didn’t want her to forget him. That’s why
he kept messaging her despite himself.

But anyway, he was in Japan, doing some really important work. So, sure,
maybe he had just gotten his heart ripped out of his chest. What really
mattered was that he had gotten possibly the best opportunity of his life and
needed to enjoy the most of it. He needed to throw himself into his work,
‘feelings’ be damned. His new coworkers had invited him to go out, and
that now sounded like a pretty good idea.

The laptop pinged and Michael couldn’t stop his head from springing up,
searching for the name he was missing so much. His chest dropped after he
saw who it was, having unwittingly risen with anticipation. The message
wasn’t from her.

It was Boris, who had been checking in with him for the past few days.
Michael had tried to be as subtle as possible when he asked Boris to keep
him updated on Mia. He had initially tried asking Lilly, but all she said
were a few unpleasant descriptive terms for Mia and that she had missed
almost an entire week of school. The next time Michael tried asking her, she
just replied, “Don’t know, don’t care.” And that was the end of that.

Boris told him that there were rumors flying around about bronchitis or
secret princess duties or who knows what else. Michael forced himself to
ignore the obvious about her absence directly following their breakup.
Although he did hope that she was mourning the loss of their relationship
just as he was, he didn’t find any gratification in the image of her sitting at
home wallowing. So, he chose to believe the rumors.

Without meaning to, he ended up telling Boris about how she hadn’t
answered his messages or made any effort to contact him. Maybe he should
just give up. She probably didn’t care anymore.

Michael wasn’t usually the type to talk about this kind of stuff unprompted,
but he needed someone to relate to and there was no one around him that
would understand. He was quite aware that his colleagues knew. There were
stories circulating about how the Princess of Genovia had finally gotten rid
of her nobody boyfriend. The headlines were humiliating enough without
Michael having to tell his coworkers about how awful it felt too.

He exchanged a few more messages with Boris, who tried to assure him
that Mia would write back eventually. She probably just needed some time
to process what was going on, just as he had when Lilly dumped him
(although Michael hoped that she wasn’t dropping any globes on her head).
Speaking of Lilly, Boris informed him that the two girls were still weren’t
talking. There was something else that had happened, but Boris wasn’t
willing to tell him and Michael couldn’t muster up the effort to push it
further.

After a few minutes, they said good-bye, and Michael went to get ready for
bed. He showered and got changed but before calling it a night, he couldn’t
help but check his laptop one more time… There wasn’t anything
important. He read over his last message to her again, which he boldly
ended with “if you get a chance, I’d love to hear from you.” Re-reading it
made him feel so incredibly stupid again. How could he be so pathetic? She
wasn’t going to answer him, no matter how friendly he tried to be. She’s
probably been sitting in her loft, laughing at her pitiful ex-boyfriend who
still can’t stop thinking about her even though he’s halfway across the
world. Or maybe she’s been out with him so much that she hasn’t bothered
to check her messages at all. He didn’t know which thought was worse.

Aggressively, he shut his laptop and dropped into the bed. Thank God he
didn’t have a roommate here, watching him woefully obsess over his high-
school girlfriend. Sure, she was the princess of a small country, but she was
still just a teenage girl who could be incredibly dramatic and immature. She
also had gotten that really stupid haircut before he left. And remember how
embarrassing she was at his party last year? And how she tried to
manipulate him into staying in New York? Or, of course, when she had a
complete fit about him with Judith Gershner, which happened before he
even knew she liked him.

That’s what Michael kept having to repeat to himself, even though he didn’t
really care about any of it. He just needed to tell himself those things so that
he could find some solace about the breakup, something to make him think
it was the right thing to do. Sure, Mia had her faults, but they were few and
far between when compared to the many things he loved about her. He
loved getting to message her after a long day and rattling off about
whatever he had learned in class. He loved that she enthusiastically watched
the movies he was assigned even though he knew she hated them. He loved
that he knew when she was writing about him in her journal, looking up to
glance at him every so often. He loved how her hair smelled and how her
breath tickled his neck when he held her. He loved-

No, he had to keep reminding himself of the bad stuff. That was what was
going to get him through this.

It took some time, but Michael finally drifted off to sleep, determined to
make the most out of his time in a cool new country. He was determined to
prove himself. He was determined that he wasn’t going to message her
again.

Okay, he caved. He had managed to hold out for about 4 days, during which
he busied himself with work and tried to befriend his new colleagues. But
when he got home after work one day… He ended up searching her name.
He didn’t want to, but his fingers typed it out before his brain could stop
them. Maybe it was because he wanted to know if she was still going out
with that guy. Maybe he just wanted to see her face again.

What he saw was so unexpected that Michael ended up sending her a

message without even thinking. There were several articles about an
explosion, caused by Kenny, and how Mia and ‘that guy’ were fine but still
had to be taken to the hospital. The message Michael sent her was short and
sort of funny, one he would have written before they had even started
dating. In the heat of the moment, he added a winky face at the end and
clicked SEND before he had time to stop himself. Maybe she’d answer this
one.

In his next email, Boris ended up asking Michael if Mia had ever gotten
back to him. Michael admitted that no, she hadn’t, and that maybe he really
should just stop bothering her. He desperately wanted to be able to talk to
her again… But he also wanted to stop embarrassing himself. Boris was
pretty understanding for a guy who doesn’t understand most things about
anything. Other than his violin maybe.

The days went by without any answer, and Michael was steadily getting
used to his new life. The project was going well, and he was enjoying his
time in Japan, even though it was hard to find a meal that didn’t include
fish, seaweed, or noodles (not that he didn’t enjoy them). He’d been out
with his coworkers a few times and had managed to have some fun. He
even shared a few glances with one of his more attractive colleagues. Yeah,
maybe he’d be able to move on after some time.

It had been over a week now since he messaged her about the explosion. On
his way home from work, Michael passed a newsstand and was stopped by
a huge headline that read “PRINCESS DROPS BOMB OF DIFFERENT
KIND” with a large photo of Mia speaking somewhere. He quickly paid for
the English paper and scanned through the article. As it turned out, Genovia
was now a democracy, all thanks to Mia. She had made an amazing speech
at some club and it was quoted to have made numerous attendees tear up.
There was something brewing in his chest.
As he looked down at her picture, Michael didn’t feel heartache or
animosity. Instead, he felt… pride. She might not be his Mia anymore, but
she was still Mia, and she was extraordinary.

Which is why he didn’t feel quite so pathetic when he messaged her one
more time, congratulating her on her achievement. It even felt natural to
call her Thermopolis again.

He didn’t have any expectations, but when Michael woke up, he found a
reply waiting for him in his inbox. It was short, sweet, and impersonal, but
still Mia-like. He could hear her voice in his head as he read it and
inadvertently broke out into a smile. Even if they weren’t in love, maybe
they would be alright after all.
End Notes

Hello! I binge-read all 11 Princess Diaries books in about 1 week and

there were so many times where I was inspired to write about
Michael's thoughts, particularly after the breakup with Mia. So sad the
movies underplayed him, he's definitely now my new fictional crush!
This story is mostly for me because I was bursting, but I would love to
know your thoughts!

Disclaimer: Meg Cabot owns all of the characters mentioned, as well

as Genovia and certain lines from the books!

Please drop by the archive and comment to let the author know if you
enjoyed their work!